The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and reproducing information signals by using an optical disk or the like. When the optical disk drive is used by incorporating the optical disk drive in a personal computer, etc., a subsystem apparatus for the personal computer or a computer is optimized structurally and the optical disk drive itself is improved structurally. Thus, when the improved optical disk drive is incorporated in an optical disk apparatus such as the subsystem apparatus, the personal computer, etc. and is operated in an environment of polluted air, the optical disk drive is operated stably.
In recent years, performance of personal computers has been improved remarkably and the personal computers have been used quite generally. A subsystem apparatus employing an optical disk drive for a magnetic disk or an optical disk acting as an auxiliary storage of the personal computers is also quite frequently used in improper environments such as air having much dust or high and low temperatures in general offices, factories, etc. in addition to proper environments for conventional large computers.
Conventionally, the optical disk drive is used either as the subsystem apparatus in which the optical disk drive is accommodated together with a power source in a casing or by incorporating the optical disk drive into the personal computer.
FIG. 1 shows a known subsystem apparatus. In FIG. 1, the known subsystem apparatus includes an optical disk drive 20, an apparatus casing 21 having an air inlet 25 and an air outlet 26, a power source 22 for supplying electric power to the optical disk drive 20, an air filter 23 and a ventilating fan 24. The optical disk drive 20 and the power source 22 are accommodated in the apparatus casing 21. It is to be noted that an aperture of the optical disk drive 20 acts also as the air outlet 26. Air is introduced from the air inlet 25 into the apparatus casing 21 as shown by the arrow 25a and is then fed through the ventilating fan 24 from the air filter 23 so as to be discharged from the air outlet 26 as shown by the arrow 26a such that the optical disk drive 20 and the power source 22 are cooled by the air.
In the known subsystem apparatus, since both the power source 22 having a large heat release value and the optical disk drive 20 are cooled by air having passed through the single air filter 23, flow rate of air is required to be increased. Therefore, if the known subsystem apparatus is used in environments of air having much dust, clogging of the air filter 23 readily takes place in a short period of time, so that proper heat dissipation cannot be achieved due to a drop in the amount of air flow through the air filter 23.
Meanwhile, another optical disk apparatus including an apparatus casing in which the air filter is not provided at the air inlet was proposed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,422. In this prior art optical disk apparatus, air flows introduced from outside into the apparatus casing are arranged so as to not collide with each other such that dust does is less likely to adhere to an optical head.
However, in the prior art optical disk apparatus, since the air filter is not provided as described above, dust adheres to the optical head in a short period of time.